The Dragons' Daughter (Thorin Oakenshield/OFC)

The Last Light

The day was dull and cold, but Thorin was numb to the elements as he marched to the boat that morning. This was it. This was what his life had been leading up to. All the pain, anger and hate was finally going to pay off. Today was Durin's day, and the Company were walking through the crowded streets of Esgaroth to the supply-packed boat that rested in the harbour. He chuckled as Dwalin laid a kiss to the hand of the pretty girl he had been talking to, who blushed. Thorin also noticed she was wearing what looked like a new cloak. Thorin just laughed at his friends embarrassment as he avoided his gaze.
"I'm happy for you, my friend. Trust me, this is a good thing."
Dwalin returned his friend's smile, before continuing on to the boat. A tug on his sleeve made Thorin look around to see Bilbo at his elbow.
"You do know we're one short? Where's Bofur?" The hobbit asked, straightening the cone-like helmet on his head. Thorin growled. They didn't have the time to wait. And from what he remembered from last night, Bofur had been a little too interested in the Master's wine supply.
"If he's not here, we leave him behind." Was the curt reply.
"We'll have to if we're to find the door before nightfall." Balin reasoned. "We can risk no more delays."
A groan made the prince look around to see Kili limping forward, his face white. He raised a hand to stop his nephew, who looked confused.
"Not you." Said Thorin. "We must travel with speed, you will slow us down."
"What are you talking about?" Kili asked, smiling slightly, "I'm coming with you."
Thorin shook his head, feeling his heart sink at the crestfallen look on his youngest nephew's face.
"No."
At that, Fili looked round at the scene, and Kili narrowed his eyes at his uncle.
"I'm going to be there when that door's opened." He said determinedly. "When we first look upon the halls of our fathers, Thorin-"
"Kili." Thorin said, silencing the boy. "Stay here. Rest. And join us when you're healed." He said, clapping his shoulder. Unable to look at that heartbroken face any longer, Thorin turned back to the boat as Kili limped away to a pile of barrels to rest his leg. Oin climbed from the boat.
"I'll stay with the lad. My duty lies with the wounded." Thorin raised an eyebrow at the subtle defiance but said nothing.
"Uncle." Said a voice brimming with emotion. Thorin looked down to see Fili staring up at him in disbelief.
"We grew up on tales of the Mountain. Tales you told us. You cannot take that away from him!"
"Fili-"
"I will carry him if I must!"
"One day," Thorin retorted, "you will be King and then you will understand. I cannot risk this quest for the sake of one dwarf, not even my own kin."
He had hoped Fili would understand, but the blonde dwarf just leapt from the boat. Thorin grabbed him.
"Fili, don't be a fool. You belong with the Company."
And to that, his eldest nephew hissed:
"I belong with my brother."
He threw off Thorn's arms and stalked away to help Kili. A gentle hand on his own shoulder stopped Thorin from going after him. He turned to see Clarrei in her dragon armour, her gold eyes calming his anger.
"Let him go Thorin. He needs to do what is right in his own mind."
She placed a gentle kiss to his cheek, before stepping into the boat, flapping her wings to keep balance. Thorin looked back at his nephews one more time before joining her and stepping to the front of the boat.

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Clarrei watched the imposing shadow grow larger by the second, her stomach clenching with nerves. Her wings were practically itching with anticipation, but she had pledged to stay with her dwarves and she had never broken her word. She squeezed Thorin's hand, calming slightly when he returned the gesture. If he was here, everything would be alright. She turned to see Bilbo white as a sheet as he looked up at Erebor. She went to sit beside the hobbit, who smiled shakily at her.
"If you had told me a year ago that I would be on a quest to slay a dragon with thirteen dwarves and the daughter of said dragon, I would have laughed in your face." He stated bluntly, rubbing his arms for warmth. It wasn't particularly cold, but nerves and the slight wind chilled everyone to the bone. Clarrei chuckled, remembering where she had been before all this began.
"I almost did, when Gandalf came to me." She said, smiling as she remembered. "Especially when I found out who Thorin was. I was sure he'd kill me."
Bilbo chuckled.
"Seems we had a similar idea." The hobbit said, blowing air into his hands.
And all too soon, the boat scraped against the rocky ground of the Lonely Mountain. The considerably smaller Company clambered out, Clarrei stretching her wings out. Thorin pulled the map from his cloak, peering at the dwarven writing.
"Stand by the grey stone..." He muttered. He peered up at the Mountain, squinting in the dull light. "We're looking for a way up to the top."
"I'll take the sky." Clarrei said, beating her great wings and taking off without a moment's notice. As she peered at the barren land around her, she turned her sensitive hearing into what was going on down below.
"Why can't she just carry us up?" grumbled who she believed to be Gloin. "She's the one with wings."
Clarrei swept over the red-haired dwarf, who stood complaining to his brother.
"Because dragons sense other dragons. I could only carry you up when fully shifted, but then I would wake Smaug and we would be as good as dead."
Gloin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as Clarrei took to the skies once more. She peered along the walls of the Mountains before crying out, at the same time as the hobbit on the ground:
"There!"
For both had spotted what the others hadn't. A great, stone staircase. Clarrei landed next to her friends and clapped Bilbo on his shoulder.
"It appears we both have keen eyes Master Baggins."
Thorin smiled at the pair of them, but Clarrei could see something like jealousy burning in his eyes. Was he jealous of Bilbo? Impossible, she thought, shaking her head as Thorin called the rest of the Company to him.

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Thorin was panting as he reached the top of the staircase, so he was understandably disgruntled when Clarrei landed in front of him, hands on her scaly hips, and said:
"Come on, slowpoke, what's taking so long?"
He growled, scrambling up and glaring at the dragon. He was still slightly touchy from his jealousy on how close the woman he loved and the burglar seemed to be. Apparently, Clarrei picked up on these feelings, because she laid a hand on his shoulder, and gently kissed his cheek.
"There is nothing to worry about." She whispered, walking towards the great stone wall.
Thorin nodded to himself, forcing away the little voice that kept nagging:
"She'll leave you. The hobbit has taken her heart."
"No he hasn't!" He yelled, startling the rest of the Company. His face flushed red, and he pulled out the map.
"Stand at the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole." He muttered, thinking. He looked at the key around his neck, tracing the dark markings and pondering what the message meant.
"Well if there is a key," Dwalin said, running his hands over the stone. "There must be a keyhole."
Nori pressed his ear to the wall and started tapping with a tiny knife, but his look of excitement faded to annoyance when nothing seemed to be echoing back. Clarrei frowned, walking forward and running her claws over the stone, but not even her claws could make a mark. She was roughly pushed aside by Thorin, who frantically ran his hands against the stone.
"No...No!" He yelled, punching the rock face in frustration. This couldn't be happening. They had to find the keyhole before the sun set. Thorin peered at the map again and muttered to himself:
"Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the last light of Durin's day will shine upon the keyhole."
He looked up to see the disappointed faces of his companions.
"That's what it says." He choked, close to tears. He had been so close, but the sun had vanished behind the mountains.
"Thorin-" Bilbo said, but the dwarf prince was already walking away from what should have been the door. Unfastening the key from his neck, he let it clatter to the floor, and with it, what he had worked for for sixty years. The map followed, and he trudged back towards the stairs with his head hung low. A gentle hand on his shoulder made him look up to see Clarrei watching him in disbelief.
"You're not giving up now. After all we've been through?"
Thorin lowered his gaze. He then yelped as he was dragged by the scruff of his shirt back to the Company.
"No, absolutely not, not after what we've struggled through to get here. You forget, Thorin, that I was practically cut open for this, and you can bet your sorry carcass that I am not letting you walk away that easily." She finished, her voice echoing through the still air, thick with tension. Thorin blinked at this little dragon, who made an imposing figure towering over him, wings outstretched, and for the first time realised that she was what had kept him going all this time. Had it not been for Clarrei, he would have given up long ago. And once again, she had made him want to continue on. He nodded to her, which was returned, and the strong woman he had grown to love began pacing the rocky outcrop. The hobbit had picked up the map and was scratching his head in confusion.
"When the thrush knocks... Last light of Durin's Day..." He was muttering to himself. "Last light..."
The dwarf prince racked his brains for the answer, but it was only when a light tapping sounded near his foot that he started to piece the clues together. The dwarves as one looked up to see a little thrush tapping at where the door to the Mountain should be. They all then looked to the sky to see the moon shine a single beam of light on a small hole the exact size of the key.

A.N.// Okay, I promise, we will meet Smaug next! I would've done it now, but it just would've been too long a chapter. Sooooo who thinks Clarrei might be able to help Thorin with the crazy? I absolutely can't wait to write more and we shall soon meet the guy we all happily want to punch! 😊 See you soon my hobbits!! Xoxo
~Luna